PICKENS—The Pickens High Football team is using a last year’s sub-par season as motivation to have a better year in 2012.

The Blue Flame struggled through the 2011 season with an overall record of 3-8 and a league record of 1-5. Head Coach Chad Seaborn says his guys are ready for redemption.

“Last year has been motivation for us,” said Seaborn. “We don’t want to have a season like that again. Throughout the spring and summer, our numbers have really been up, and we have been really pleased.”

Turning things around has required hard work from everyone involved, and Seaborn says his team is on the right path.

“Our kids have been in the weight room working hard,” said Seaborn. “We’ve done several linemen camps and 7-on-7. I’ve been really pleased with the effort they’ve been putting in and I hope that we can build on this coming off a tough year. You would think our numbers and attitude would be down, but it hasn’t been that way.”

Going into the new season, Seaborn says the team’s newly acquired depth will be the biggest plus.

“We’re going to have a little more depth this year,” said Seaborn. “We won’t have as many guys playing both ways, and we should be able to get some good competition in all positions. Last year we were pretty thin, and low in numbers. So far, our depth has been good.”

On the flip side, Seaborn says he is hoping his offense can step up to make up for losses.

“So much of our offense is the option,” said Seaborn. “We lost our quarterback and our fullback so we need to get our timing down. We’ve got some new faces in there, so we need to be better on offense and have a nastier attitude on defense. We’ve got to eliminate the big play on defense, and make teams earn their scores.”

Seaborn says his team can look forward to more success this season, and hopes this hard work will translate to all areas of his players’ lives.

“All we want to do is get better each day,” said Seaborn. “If we can improve each day, and just take care of what we can take care of then I like where we’ll be at the end of the year. I don’t know how many wins that will be, or whether or not that will mean the playoffs, but our main objective is to get better each day. That’s not just on the football field, but in everything we do. We hope that will make them become better men and better football players.”